Day 144

1 Samuel 14:24-15:35, John 14:1-31, Proverbs 12:28-13:9

For a great chunk of John’s Gospel Jesus has been talking of the relationship between himself and the father. He has been trying to explain to the people around him that the God they believe in is the one who sent him. Today we see a key passage, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me”.

Sometimes when we read the Bible we fail to see the theological concepts that come from it. The concept of the Trinity is central to our beliefs and it is from verses such as this that we can see where this theology comes from. Jesus is God, he is one with the Father (and the Spirit) and that is what he is trying to tell his disciples here.

It is this God that we worship, Father, Son and Spirit and yet it is the concept of worship that is causing more and more problems for Saul. We will see a pattern through the Old Testament that they lose track of what worship should be. They define worship as a particular thing, for example a set number of songs, a sermon and a few prayers. It is when they get set on this that they forget what worship should be, a heartfelt and personal interaction with God. They think that the physical act of worship is all that is needed, and lose track of actually following and listening to the God who is the object of this worship.

Saul sets up idols and carries out sacrifices all for the sake of it, and yet he does not listen to what God is trying to say. Two things from the Gospel resonate with this: v1 “believe God, believe also in me” and v15 “If you love me you will keep my commands”. This is what we need to do, this is what our worship should be, listening to God, loving God, keeping his commands and believing in him.

Let us keep away from the traps of Saul and ensure that we worship God Father, Son and Spirit with all our hearts in spirit and truth.